On Sunday night, AMC’s Mad Men wrapped up its second season. Before the second season began in late July, I dedicated a portion of my Summer to acquainting myself with the first season of the acclaimed show, which is set in the early 60′s and is centered on Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a New York City ad man. Created by Matthew Weiner, best known for his writing on The Sopranos, Mad Men is head and shoulders above everything else on television at the moment. At a time when HBO is in a down period (thanks to the departures of The Sopranos and The Wire), Showtime still hasn’t realized that Weeds is terrible, and network television is only now beginning to slightly ease up on its fixation with “reality” shows, Mad Men represents television’s best hope for salvation.
Mad Men is the complete package. Its ensemble cast, in terms of talent, is matched only by a select few. With Don Draper, Matthew Weiner has created one of the most charismatic assholes in the history of television and in Jon Hamm he has found an actor capable of serving the character’s enormous complexities. Thanks to its incredible attention to detail, Mad Men is one of the more authentic period shows in recent memory. Weiner’s writing only supports that claim, as he frequently sheds light on the harsh treatment that women faced in the workplace and often incorporates news headlines into the plot. For example, the tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis played a key role in the season two finale. If your parents grew up in the late 50′s and early 60′s, the scenery in Draper’s home will be all too familiar to them.
If you have cable, you have no excuse not to be watching Mad Men. Moreover, if you have an HD television, you have no excuse not to be watching Mad Men in vivid HD. It was announced last week that AMC had renewed the show for a third season, but had yet to reach a new contract with Weiner. I’m hoping that is resolved soon, because I don’t want to imagine what this show would be like without his writing. Given the long wait between seasons of cable productions, the rest of the television world now has time to catch up to Mad Men. If just one of the major networks would take a chance on a show that has even a fraction of the courage and personality that Mad Men has, the idiot box would be a lot better for it.
An inside look at the season two finale of Mad Men (spoilers):
